A book penned by a Canadian serial killer has been pulled from Amazon

Robert Pickton is serving a life sentence for multiple counts of murder Getty Images / Staff

A memoir apparently written by the serial murderer Robert Pickton has been withdrawn within hours after appearing for sale on Amazon.

Pickton: In His Own Words, a 144-page book published on January 29, was written by Pickton in his maximum security prison, then given to another inmate, who sent it to a friend, CTV reported.

Colorado-based Outskirts Press, a company that helps authors self-publish their work, requested Amazon immediately stop selling the memoir hours after it first appeared online.

Users of the site also asked for the removal of the book and gave it the lowest possible rating.

Former millionaire pig-farmer Pickton was found guilty of murdering six women in 2007 while charges relating to 20 other deaths were suspended. He was sentenced to life in prison after initially being charged with the murders of 26 women from a total of 69 who had gone missing in the British Columbia province of Canada. His victims were killed on his farm, with some of the remains fed to his pigs.

According to the Vancouver Sun, in his book Pickton declares his innocence and claims to have been framed for the murders.

Mike Morris, the provincial government minister of public safety, said:

We are taking this very seriously and investigating every means available to ensure that the families involved are protected from further harm and that Robert Pickton will not profit in any way from this book. It is not right that a person who caused so much harm and hurt so many people could profit from his behaviour.

Ernie Crey, the brother of one of the victims whose DNA was among that of 33 women found at Pickton's Port Coquitlam farm, said he was "deeply troubled" by the memoirs.